Title: The Crucible

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Author's Note: Thanks to all who reviewed! This is another song-fic chapter. The song is called 'Twenty-Three' by Yellow Card. I got kind of sentimental in some parts, and kind of philosophical in others, so I apologize in advance for anyone who doesn't like mushiness or philosophy.

crucible: an object made stronger as it is passed through fire

Chapter 10: Vengeance

I got to tell you that he waited all his life
For someone like you to come make the wrong things right
I know he didn't have the answers all the time
But you can't tell me that you've never told a lie

Day 9

"Okay, take a deep breath and fix your mind on a clear image of the person you want to reach," Sria instructed. She and Tess where sitting cross-legged on the floor of the hybrid's bedroom. It was early in the morning, and the sunlight flooded in through the windows, illuminating the room in a wash of orange and yellow light. Tess had her eyes closed, her face scrunched together in concentration, her lips compressed into a thin straight line.

"Now," Sria continued softly, her voice barely above a whisper, "Imagine this person is calling out to you. They are a very long ways away, and you can't quite hear what they are saying. What do you do?"

"Send an e-mail?" Tess answered dryly, opening one eye and shaking her head.

"A what?" Sria asked, puzzled.

Tess opened both eyes and sighed. "Never mind," she replied, waving away the question. She leaned back slightly, resting the weight of her upper body on the palms of her hand. "I can't connect with them, Sria. I don't know how."

"Just reach out and…"

"And try to hear the person who is calling to me from a 'very long ways away?'" Tess finished the sentence for her. "It's no use. I don't know how to reach them." Her voice was fillled with impatient frustration and despair. What if she couldn't do this?

Sria sighed and said, alright, "Let's take a short break, shall we?" She looked away through the windows out into the distant sunrise, her mind on far away thoughts. At last, she said, "Have you thought of what you plan of saying when you see Vila-Isabel?"

Tess shook her head slowly, a contemplative expression on her features. "I don't know," she admitted quietly. "I hadn't really thought that far." Mostly because she didn't want to be doing this anyway…

"Well, you might want to come up with something," Sria replied quietly, her eyes serious. "Know what you are going to say before you go in so that you are not caught by surprise. You don't want to say something you regret in the heat of the moment." Her voice was filled with a sort of understanding that made Tess feel as though Sria could see right through her.

Tess laughed bitterly. "There is very little I could say that I would regret," she spat. The words were cold and harsh, matching the hard look on her face.

"You don't mean that," Sria said sharply, glancing back at the hybrid. The light from the window fell across Sria's face, giving her an almost sureal appearance. Tess turned to her, raising two perfectly sculpted eyebrows in confusion. Sria met the other alien's gaze for a moment, then shrugged and continued, "You know you don't mean that."

"You think I care…" Tess began, but the sound of Alex crying stopped her. She stood up quickly, the loose cotton of her night gown falling around her knees, and hurried to her son's crib. She lifted him from the soft blankets, murmuring gently, "Shh. Mommy's here. Don't cry."

"If you didn't care about them, you wouldn't be doing this," Sria said quietly, watching as Tess rocked her son until the child fell back into a peaceful slumber.

"I'm doing this for the Resistance and the people of Antar. It has nothing to do with Max, Isabel, or Michael," Tess shot back, gently laying her son back in the crib. She straightened and turned to Sria. "How could you ever assume otherwise?"

"Because I know you," Sria replied simply. "You may not be my best friend anymore, but there are still pieces of her in you, and I see that. You still care. You still love them. Him."

There was an uncomfortable silence as Tess tried to find the words to refute the truth Sria had so blatantly stated. Finally, she looked down at her hands, and asked in a hesitant voice, "Did you know him well? Zan, I mean."

"No, not well. I was at your wedding, of course. Maid of Honor. And I visited you quite often after you married him. But…" She let the sentence drift off, trying to think how exactly to best phrase her thoughts. Finally, she said softly, "You were in love. So in love… You would never hear a word against him. And he and I didn't really get along."

"Why not?" Tess asked, surprised, her eyes snapping up to Sria's face. Sria was the first person here she had heard say anything that sounded even remotely like discontent with Zan.

"Difference of opinion, I guess," Sria replied, shrugging. She looked back out the winodw as memories of the past filled her mind with sorrow for what could have been. "It's not really important. We just weren't the best of friends, but because we both cared about you, we tried our best to be civil to each other." She smiled, a bittersweet smile, as she remembered those distant days. "I'll give him this, Ava. He loved you more than life itself."

"Well, he doesn't anymore," Tess snapped, her pale face flushed with anger at the wound Sria has inadverdantly opened.

Sria ignored the irate hybrid, caught in her own memories. "I remember you telling me once that he had told you he felt as though he had been waiting his whole life for you." She ran a hand through her hair, pushing a few red strands behind her ear. She could clearly picture the first Ava's face, the way she had sparkled with enthusiam as she told Sria those words. Zan had said them as he proposed on the banks of the Landra River. It had been early autumn, and the leaves of the trees had turned to gold and crimson. Autumn on Earth was beautiful, but autumn on Antar... it was beyond words. The leaves were so brilliant with their color, and they glowed with such intense light...

Ava and Zan had been dating for three years, and Sria had never seen her best friend so happy. The news of the engagment had spread far and wide, and everyone on Antar had been thrilled. Ava was well loved by the people, and Zan was worshipped as their hero and King. And the two were meant to be together... All Ava could do was talk about the plans for the rest of her life, and how wonderful everything was going to be for them...

If only Sria had known then what she knew now.

"I waited my whole life for him, and look where it got me," Tess hissed, her eyes burning with anger.

"You were always the better half of him," Sria continued, a smug smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "At least, that's what I thought." She laughed slightly, her skin crinkling at the corners of her eyes. "He would fly into rages all the time, but you could talk him out of it. Well, usually. Sometimes he would be totally beyond reason." Then she frowned, as though suddenly realizing that Tess was still in the room, and slanted a look at petite blonde, saying pointedly, "Of course, you weren't all that perfect yourself, either."

Tess raised an eyebrow questioningly at the comment.

Sria shrugged apologetically and said, "Sorry, Ava. Just thinking about the past."

"Well, why don't we get back to the present?" Tess suggested, and took a seat on the floor again. "You were explaining to me how to reach Isabel."

"You don't have to reach them, Ava," Sria replied patiently. "If you are right, Isabel is trying to reach you, then all you have to do is meet her half way."

Tess rolled her eyes. "She's on the other side of the universe, Sria. Half-way is still a really long way to go."

"Well, no one said this was going to be easy," Sria retorted, her patience wearing thin. "You just need to focus, and the rest will come."

Tess slanted a look at the other alien, her eyebrows raising into the air, and asked doubtfully, "And if it doesn't?"

To which Sria had no answer.

We're almost twenty-three and you're still mad at me
So much that I said to you and I want to take it back now
Twenty-three and it's so sad to me
You tell the world I'm dead to you
But I know you want me back now

"Okay, why don't we take another break?" Sria suggested, standing slowly and stretching her tight muscles. She and Tess had been sitting on the floor for three hours now, but with no success. And while she was loathe to give up the endeavor, she had to admit that they were getting nowhere. Tess did not have the ability to create telepathic links the way Tunia or Isabel could. How was she supposed to reach out across the universe? She had never done anything like this before.

Tess nodded slowly and swallowed her frustration. She stood up, her sore muscles screaming at the effort. Although she had not managed to reach anyone on Earth, the attempt of trying to reach them had been draining enough, and her body was weary with mental and physical exhaustion.

"I still think you should have some clear idea of what you are going to tell Isabel," Sria said softly, her green eyes holding Tess' gaze for a beat.

Tess blinked, somewhat surprised as she noted that Sria had not stumbled over Isabel's name, trying to call her Vilandra first. It seemed the red-haired alien was finally separating Isabel and Vilandra in her mind.

Tess shrugged and walked over to the edge of her bed, sitting down on it. "I guess I just plan on warning her about Khivar. What else is there to say?"

"Do really not have questions?" Sria replied disbelievingly. "You don't want to know how they are doing? Are they safe from the skins and the…what is it called? FCI? FIB?"

"FBI," Tess corrected automatically.

"What about your human family…Kyle and Jim, right? Don't you want to know about them?" Sria pressed. She walked over to Tess and sat down next to her, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "Don't you have questions?"

"Besides how could you do this to me?" Tess asked, giving an abrupt, ironic laugh. The sound died away on her lips and she shook her head slowly. "No, I really don't."

"Why not?" Sria asked calmly.

"Because they betrayed me!" Tess exploded, jumping to her feet, then quickly lowering her voice and casting an apprehensive look at her sleeping son. But Alex had no woken up, and Tess breathed a sigh of relief before continuing in a lower tone, "They were supposed to stand beside me no matter what."

"And they are probably feeling very guilty for that," Sria pointed out. She stood up and placed a hand on Tess' shoulder, gently pushing the hybrid back into a sitting position. "They are sorry for what they've done, the memories you saw when you gave birth to Alex prove that." Her words were logical, but she knew that Tess was not thinking with logic. The other hybrids had done too much to her for her to be able to think about them rationally.

"They don't deserve my forgiveness," Tess snapped, although she remained sitting, her arms folded defiantly over her chest. "They should have never believed that of me in the first place."

"Because they were your family," Sria finished the thought as she began to pace the room, her feet making a gentle pounding sound on the carpeted floor. "They should have known."

"Yes."

"And no matter what happens, family is always family."

Tess frowned at Sria, sensing a double meaning behind the alien's words, but unable to understand what it was. "Ye-es," she answered slowly, unable to shake the feeling that she was walking right into a trap.

"And there is nothing that changes that," Sria added. "The bond of family can't be broken. They should have given you the benefit of the doubt, they should have let you explain before accusing you of murder and betrayal."

Tess nodded wordlessly.

"Because even if you had wronged them, you were still their family," Sria questioned, her eyebrows raising slightly. Her back was turned to Tess, but she did not need to be facing the other alien to know that her Tess had looked up sharply at the words.

Because, quite suddenly, Tess understood the double meaning, understood the trap, and found it was far too late to back out of it now.

Sria turned and slanted a look at Tess, a thin smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. "And despite your claim that family is always family and nothing changes that, you really want me to believe that you harbor no good feelings for the other hybrids? That you don't care, at all?"

Was it fun for you to watch him fall apart? (Watch me fall)
And suffocate him while you held him in your arms (in your arms)
I swear to God I wish he never let you in (let you in)
And I just hope we never hear from you again

"Would destroying their lives make you feel better?" Sria asked abruptly, breaking the tense silence that had fallen over the two. They had spent the next two hours after their argument practicing reaching out into the void, and still Tess was unsure of what to do or how to do it. Beads of sweat lined her forehead, her eyes were shadowed with exhaustion.

Tess opened her eyes and looked up at Sria. "You really aren't going to let this go, are you?" she asked quietly.

Sria laughed. "Khai's not the only one who gets to teach you about being a Queen." She smiled softly at Tess, her eyes filled with warmth and understanding. She knew this was difficult for the hybrid, but it was necessary. They had to have the conversation now, because Tess had to come to a decision about the other three. She had to know exactly what her feelings were and she had to be abl eto defend them, because the rest of her life would revolve around the choices she made today.She was facing her past, and she had to come out of it stronger and more determined, not vindictive and broken.

"You already yelled at me for being immature over the whole Tunia's death thing. What's the lesson this time?" Tess asked, somewhat sarcastic.

"You answer my question, I'll answer yours," Sria replied stoically, refusing to back down.

Tess closed her eyes for and thought, really thought, about the question. She hated them. Hated them for what they had done to her, for the life they had condemned her to. But she was here, and even if she tormented them when she visited Isabel, she would still be here. So would ruining their lives make her feel better?

Instant gratification, she'd feel better as she said the words, as she saw the hurt on Isabel's face.

But in the long run…?

No.

No, it really wouldn't.

She opened her eyes and looked up at Sria, tilting her head to the side. "Let me guess," she commented dryly, "this lesson is that vengeance doesn't pay?"

"Oh no," Sria replied, grinning. "Vengeance does pay." She smiled even more at the incredulous look on Tess' face and elaborated, "But you just have to redefine your idea of vengeance." She walked over to the bed and sat down on it, gesturing for Tess to do the same. The hybrid paused for a moment, then walked over to her son first. She lifted him from the crib and rocked him back and forth. Her days were filled with war and confusion, pain and loss, struggles and trials, and she had little time to spend with her son. Every moment with him was precious.

Then she walked over to Sria and sat down.

"Vengeance is different from revenge," Sria continued. "Revenge, Ava, is more along the ideas of an eye for an eye."

"Which leaves the whole world blind," Tess murmured. At Sria's confused look, she explained, "It's a platitude from Earth. An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. Revenge doesn't get you anywhere, and often causes more harm."

"Interesting," Sria mused, nodding as she let the words play through her mind. "Yes, I like that saying. It is very appropriate."

"What exactly is the difference between revenge and vengeance?" Tess asked, directing them back to the previous topic.

"Revenge is done in the heat of the moment with little thought for future consequences, and therefore causes harm. And in the end, it does not make you feel better," Sria murmured.

"And vengeance?"

"Vengeance," Sria continued, "Is figuring out what will make you feel better."

Tess was quite for a moment, staring down at her son. He had woken up, and was regarding her through quietly serious eyes. Although he was still only a few days old, he was growing quickly, and his facial expression were much more defined that a human child's. She could clearly see the confusion in his eyes as he tried to understand what had upset his Mommy so much today.

Slowly, an answer came to mind, and Tess began to realize what would make her feel better. Success. Becoming Queen, defeating Khivar. Not for the people of Antar, not for Sria or Larek, not for the Resistance, not for her son. For herself. Proving to everyone that they were wrong about her. Proving to Khai that she was strong enough. Proving to Max, Isabel, and Michael that she could do this without them. Proving to Khivar that she was a force to be feared.

That was her vengeance. That had always been what she wanted. That was what she would get.

She met Sria's gaze and smiled. "I know," she said, and Sria returned the smile.

"Yes, you do. You already knew the answer, you always have. You just had to work it out for yourself. And that is today's lesson about being Queen."

We're almost twenty-three and you're still mad at me
So much that I said to you and I want to take it back now
Twenty-three and it's so sad to me
you tell the world I'm dead to you
But I know you want me back

"Tell me about telepathic links," Tess ordered quietly.

"What do you want to know?" Sria asked, leaning against the wall of the room and watching the mid-afternoon sun beat down on the world below. The air outside sweltered in the heat, and she was incredibly glad they were spending the day inside. It had been an hour since their last conversation, and Sria had disappeared to check in with Larek, leaving Tess to practice on her own. The blonde hybrid had made some progress, but not much.

Not enough.

"How are they formed? How do they work? What are they like? When Tunia linked to someone in the Resistance before her death, what was that exactly?" Tess elaborated. She had no idea what she was doing, and she desperately needed information. Perhaps it would help her reach Isabel.

Sria raised a single eyebrow at the bombardment of questions, but answered promptly, "Some people have the inherent ability to connect to the mind of another person. Unlike possessing someone, it does not require that you use more of your brain than they do. If you have that trait, you can connect with anyone. There are many different types of connections. Isabel, and Vilandra for that matter, can dream-walk, which allows her into people's dreams. Tunia could create links through which the other person can hear, see, taste, smell, and feel everything that she does. Arya can send mental words and images, but not feelings. And obviously your son has some form of this power as he used it to reach out to his father."

Tess nodded dumbly. "But I don't have any of those gifts," she pointed out. "What am I doing, and how is it done?"

Sria rubbed her eyes and thought about the question. "That is a bit more difficult to explain. While you don't have the ability to telepathically connect, you do have the ability to mind-warp, so your mind is more adaptable to this sort of action." The redhead paused for a moment, casting a sideways glance at Tess. "What you are doing is playing on the bond you have with Vi… with Isabel."

"Bond?" Tess questioned, two eyebrows shooting into the air.

"A bond exists between two people. It can take many shapes or forms. Love, mutual hate, strong friendship. The stronger the emotion, the stronger the bond. Of course, with any type of family, the bond is even stronger, especially when they share the same blood. The strongest bond is formed between mother and child…" Sria's sentence drifted off as her eyes widened in realization.

She got up and started pacing, her mind whirling. Tess watched her for a moment, not wanting to interrupt whatever brainwave her friend had just had, but as the moments stretched to minutes and still Sria said nothing, the blonde hybrid started to get frustrated.

"Are you going to fill me in, Sria?" she asked sarcastically. "Or should I start guessing?"

"The main reason that Isabel could not contact you was…well, there were two reasons. The first being that she had never tried to contact anyone on the other side of the universe before, and it was a little out of her league. The second was that you were subconsciously keeping her out. Those two combined…" Sria was mumbling, more to herself than to Tess, and she let the sentence drift off as she thought over the idea that had occured to her.

"I'm lost," Tess said after Sria had lapsed into silence.

"Did you ever wonder why Isabel needs a picture to be able to dream-walk?"

The question took Tess by surprise, and she had no good answer for it. Instead, she shook her head and replied, "Not really."

Sria nodded. "She used the picture to channel her energy. So that her link knows where to go. When she is just dream-walking someone on Earth, a picture is sufficient. But when she tries to contact you, she has an entire universe to search. She needs more than a picture."

Tess mulled over the words for a moment, then said, "She was using Max and Michael's energy as well. All three of them combined…"

"All the energy in the world won't help her if she can't find your essence to start with." Sria was smiling now, her eyes shinning with anticipation. "The fact that you are so far away, combined with you not really wanting to talk to her… you were subconsciously barring her from your mind, and that is why she couldn't find you. But if you took down the barriers…"

"I don't get it," Tess objected. "Even without the barriers, I'm on the other side of the universe. Like you said, she can't find me."

Sria nodded encouragingly. "Exactly," she replied enigmatically.

"Okay, I'm still really lost, only now, I'm getting annoyed as well," Tess snapped.

Sria laughed, and Tess grinned slightly as well. "Sorry," Sria apologized. She walked back over to the bed and sat down. "Originally, we were assuming that you would have to initiate the bond. Once you found Isabel, she could do the actual linking, but you still have to find her. And while, due to your mind-warping ability, you have the mental strength to make that possible, it is incredibly difficult."

"Now you think I don't have to find her?"

"No. You have to lead her to you," Sria replied.

"How?"

"Through your bond. A bond is strongest when it is formed through blood."

"But Isabel and I aren't blood related."

"No," Sria agreed. She turned and faced Tess fully. "But Alex…"

Realization dawned, and Tess frowned, unsure what she thought of the plan. "You want me to use my son to connect with someone on the other side of the universe? That isn't dangerous?"

"He's done it before," Sria pointed out. "He took you into his father's memories. He can take you into Isabel's as well, because he is blood related to Isabel, and he is blood related to you. And since he obviously has some form of mind-linking ability anyway..." She sighed and Tess' still hesitant look and said, "I'm not saying it would be easy. But it won't be dangerous. Trust me, I would never put your son's life in danger."

Slightly mollified, but still worried, Tess nodded and said, "Alright. What do I do?"


Wasted on you (wasted on you)
Wasted on you (so much time I've)
Wasted on you (wasted on you)
Wasted on you
On you
On you

Tess held her son tightly in her arms and let her conscious link with his. She could feel the bond between the two, strong and pulsing with energy. She focused on the bond, strengthening the gentle link. "Come on, baby," she whispered, closing her eyes. "Don't let Mommy down."

Through her son, she let her conscious reach out across the void, seeking Isabel's mind. This time, however, it was easy. In the past, each time she had tried to reach out, she had hit walls, mental barriers, great expanses of emptiness. This time…this time the obstacles were gone, and she was swimming through a haze of murky darkness, soothing and disconcerting at the same time. After a moment of concentration, she felt a flicker of something familiar. Fighting towards it, she was bombarded with a mass of swirling emotions and images. For a moment, she struggled, lost in the maelstrom of thoughts and feelings, and then, quite suddenly, she found herself standing in the middle of an expanse of darkness that reached on forever all around her.

"Wh-what?"

Tess turned at the sound of the other voice, and saw Isabel standing behind her. The statuesque alien had her back to Tess, so she had not yet realized the other's presence. She was staring off into the darkness in surprise and wonder, unsure of how she had ended up here. "What happened?" she murmured to herself. "Where am I?"

"This is your dream-walk, Isabel," Tess said coldly, her voice brittle. "You tell me."

Isabel spun around and gaped at Tess, her eyes widening and her jaw dropping in surprise.

Tess met Isabel's eyes, and swallowed back the rage and fury that flared inside her. The other alien looked so…lost. So guilt-ridden, so confused, so haunted…

"Te-Tess?"

"In the flesh," Tess replied. She had known that facing Isabel would not be easy, that it would bring back unwanted memories and undesired emotions, that it would dig up all of the anger and loathing that she had tried to bury, tried to forget… No, she was not naïve. She knew this be difficult.

She just hadn't realized how difficult.

"How did you…how are you…did you…is everything…what happened?" Isabel stammered over her words. Since she had heard the shape-shifter's story, all she had wanted was to find Tess and apologize. But now that the petite blonde was standing in front of her, she had no idea what to say.

"What happened?" Tess mimicked. "What do you think happened?"

"We know about…about the shape-shifter…" Isabel muttered, looking down as her face flushed with guilt and shame.

"I know," Tess said simply. Off Isabel's surprised look, Tess elaborated, "When my son connected to Max, I saw some visions from Max's mind… I saw you finding out about her."

"Where are you? Does Khivar have you?" Isabel said. "Or are you somewhere safe?"

"I'm…" Tess hesitated, searching for the right words. Finally, she said, "I'm still alive. For now, at any rate."

"Where?" Isabel pressed.

Tess stared at her for a moment, her eyes boring into Isabel's, but she said nothing.

"Tess…"

"The hell am I going to tell you anything!" Tess hissed between clenched teeth. Her blue eyes sparkled with malicious anger as all her inner demons came pouring out. "You really think I am going to provide you with answers?" She wanted them to suffer. Who cared if an eye-for-an-eye left the whole world blind? Who cared what Sria had said? Who cared if this would not make her happy in the long run?

It was making her happy now.

"Tess, we are…" Isabel began, but Tess cut her off.

"Khivar is after you."

The four simple words were left hanging in the air as Isabel lapsed into a shocked silence. Tess was quiet as well, struggling to get her anger under control as she stared up into the striking face of the statuesque hybrid Princess. The silence stretched, long and awkward, as each alien tried to get their troubled thoughts into some form of coherent pattern.

Because Tess did care. Sria was right, she had been right all along, and Tess knew that she had a job to do. It was not to throw insults at Isabel, not to make her suffer, not to laugh as the other hybrid girl was filled with pain and sorrow. Her job was to come and warn Isabel. Nothing else mattered right now. Nothing else at all.

Not even her torn out, broken, ripped apart, spat on, trampled, and bleeding heart.

Finally, Isabel managed, "Wh-what? What do you mean?"

Tess rolled her eyes. "What did it sound like I meant?" She lifted one hand and held it out, saying, "Khivar." Then she lifted her other hand, adding, "You." She slapped the two hands together and elaborated, "Khivar. Is. After. You." Her words were slow, mocking, as though she was talking to a very slow child, because, although she knew she should just finish the job and go, she could not keep herself from vindictively enjoying the few moments she had to torment Isabel.

"How? Why? How do you know this?" Isabel stuttered.

Tess crossed her arms over her chest and began to pace back and forth through the void of nothingness. "I don't know how he plans on getting you, but my…contacts…tell me that he will succeed. As for why he wants you, he wants Vilandra. He wants Vilandra to be able to rule legitimately with her at his side."

"How do you know all this?" Isabel asked, her initial fear fading somewhat, to be replaced by curiosity. "Where are you?"

Tess was quiet for a moment, wondering if she should answer the question. At last, she said softly, "That isn't important. What is it important is that you need to be prepared for Khivar when he comes."

"Where are you?" Isabel repeated. "Are you with Khivar? Does he have you? Are you hurt, in danger?"

"I told you, Isabel, that I'm still alive. My son and I are alive, and that is all I am going to tell you right now," Tess answered, willing her anger to stay under control.

"You're son? He's okay?" Isabel asked. "Max had a vision that he was in danger and we thought…"

"He's fine," Tess snapped. "We're fine."

There was a silence, long and unbearable, but neither Tess nor Isabel seemed able to break it. Finally, after listening to the stillness around her, Isabel said, "How do we stop Khivar?"

Tess licked her dry lips and replied honestly, "I have no idea." She turned away from Isabel and collected her thoughts, her heart beating wildly and erratically. At last, she continued, "Warn Michael and Max. They are the key."

"How?" Isabel questioned, moving so that she was standing in front of Tess again.

Tess shrugged. "I don't know exactly. We believe Khivar's presence should be enough to awaken the Vilandra in you. Likewise, Max, Michael, Maria, Liz, Kyle, and Jim should be enough to turn you back to Isabel." She stumbled over the other's names, having trouble forcing them out of her lips. They sounded strange on her tongue, almost foreign, like the half-familiar, half-forgotten names of people she could not quite place.

Again, there was a silence, then Isabel said, "We miss you."

It was all Tess could do to keep from screaming at the other girl.

Strangely, it was not the words that unsettled her. It was not the fact that Isabel actually had the nerve to say them. It was not the realization that things could have been different. It was not the irony of her situation, that she was only appreciated after she was gone.

It was that Isabel was telling the truth.

They did miss her.

And hearing that truth, Tess could no longer deny that she missed them as well.

And that was what disturbed her.

"Do you really?" Tess spat, anger rising to cover the raw pain and longing she felt at the words. "You miss me? Where the hell was that sentiment when you were all too anxious to throw me to the wolves, Izzy? Where was your friendship then?"

Isabel flinched at the sarcastic emphasis Tess placed on her nickname and shot back with anger, "You admitted to killing Alex!"

"Would you have believed me if I denied it?" Tess asked mildly, her eyes dark with anger, her expression twisted into a scowl.

"If you had given us time to think about it…"

"Time?" Tess questioned mockingly. "We didn't have time, Isabel! The Granolith was going to leave in two minutes and my son would have died if I had stayed on Earth. I did what I had to in order to get off the planet; I did what was needed to keep my son alive." She lapsed into silence for a moment, finding to her own discomfort that she felt almost no satisfaction at the horrified and guilty look on Isabel's face. Then she said in a softer tone, "You shouldn't have needed time, anyway. You should have known I would never do that."

"Tess…"

But Tess was not through with her rant, and everything she had wanted to say for the last week suddenly came pouring out. "I searched for you three for ten years, Isabel! I waited my entire life to find you, and then, when I think I actually have a chance at being happy, at being a member of a real family, you all turn on me!"

"You scared us off with all your talk of destiny," Isabel protested, her voice shaking a little as she spoke.

"I showed you who you were, where you were from. I provided you with the answers to all those questions you had been asking yourselves! I helped you rescue Max from the white room and defeat the FBI Special Unit. I went with Max to New York and fought of Lonnie and Rath. I helped you with the parasites. I sent a fireball into all those skins that were going to kill us! And what did I get for all my trouble? Nothing!"

"Tess…" Again, Isabel tried to cut into the rant, but again, Tess would not let her.

"I may have hurt you all with talk of destiny, I may have caused Liz grief by going after Max, I might not have been everyone's best friend, but tell me, Isabel, what did I ever do that would make you doubt my allegiance?" the fuming hybrid snarled, her pale face flushed with a deep crimson of rage, her blue eyes sparkling with an anger that sent shivers down Isabel's spine.

"I'm sorry," Isabel whispered, tears sliding down her face. "Tess, I'm so sorry…"

Tess held Isabel's gaze for a beat, her blue eyes unreadable in the dim light. Then she replied honestly, "Me too," and broke the bond, disappearing and leaving the hybrid Princess standing alone in the great expanse of emptiness with nothing but more questions, and no answers.


Twenty-three and you're still mad at me
So much that I said to you and I want to take it back now
Twenty-three and it's so sad to me
You tell the world I'm dead to you
But I know you want me back now

Tess opened her eyes slowly and looked around the room. Alex was lying perfectly still in her arms, while Sria was perched on the edge of a chair, watching and waiting. At some point while she had been in contact with Isabel, Khai, Kani, and Larek had entered the room, and the three of them were standing around the walls, silently staring at her.

"It's done," Tess breathed, standing. The world spun around her as she realized she did not have the energy to stand on her own, but in a flash Larek was there, supporting her and placing a protective hand under the arm that held her son. She smiled gratefully at him and gently placed her son in his arms, knowing she did not have the strength to hold him on her own.

Larek, who had never held Alex, or any newborn, before, stared down at the bundle in his arms, unable to think of anything else except the beautiful blue eyes staring at him. Something tugged at his heart strings as he realized this is what he could have had with Kani, if Lotho… He pushed the thought away. Kani loved Lotho more than life itself, Kani was happy with Lotho, and now Lotho was dead. It was not the time to dwell on old grievances or lost loves.

"You warned Vilandra?" Khai asked quickly, seeing the contemplative look on Larek's face and knowing what the alien king was thinking. He shot a look at Kani, and he could tell by the expression on her face, she knew what Larek had been thinking about as well.

Tess, oblivious to the millions of emotions flying in between the other aliens in the room, sank onto her bed and nodded, managing to croak out, "Yeah, I warned her."

"Well, it is up to her and the others to stop Khivar now," Kani murmured.

Larek nodded in agreement and placed Alex in his crib. "Sria, stay with Ava to make sure the effort was not too draining for her. Khai, Kani, and I need to meet with some more Resistance members."

"What's going on?" Tess asked, rolling to her side and looking over at Larek.

Larek hesitated, clearly unsure as to whether or not he wanted to tell her. She had a right to know, but at the same time, she needed to rest after such an ordeal. Finally, settling for a compromise, he said, "Sria will tell you." Then he, Kani, and Khai left the room.

Tess shifted her gaze to Sria, but Sria was looking over at Alex. "It's a pity none of us ever had a chance to have children," she murmured.

Tess blinked at the comment and frowned. It had never really occurred to her, but now she had to wonder why she knew nothing about the families of her allies. "Why don't you?" she asked, shifting to face Sria.

Sria sighed and shrugged. "Larek never married, although he is still relatively young given the average lifespan of his species, so there could be a family in the future for him. Kani and Lotho didn't have children because they didn't have the time. Arya has a full grown son who works in the Resistance, but her husband was killed years ago. Audin is married, but his wife is back on Byor. It is hard for diplomats to have children because they are never around."

"And Khai?"

"Khai was married once, several years ago, to a Antarian woman named Myra. It was shortly after you and Zan were married that he met and fell in love with his wife." Sria closed her eyes. "We were at that wedding also. She was a beauty, and he was in love, and they were happy…" She opened her eyes and turned to Tess, her voice becoming hard. "Khivar killed Myra only a few months after they married. It was his first attack on the capital city, the first battle in a very long and merciless campaign. Myra was pregnant at the time, so it was a great blow to Khai. And then, to find out that it was Vilandra who let Khivar into the city that night…"

Tess stared at Sria in horror.

After a moment of silence Sria shrugged and turned away. Finally, Tess said, "What happened today? What are the others meeting about?"

Sria closed her eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling it sharply as she thought about the disturbing news they had received. "Yesterday Zyith took an cohort of Resistance members and secretly entered a city that we believed Khivar was going to attack in the next week or two. When he got there, Khivar's army was already waiting for him. They attacked as soon as he entered. He was killed, along with the rest of the city and most of the Resistance members that had gone with him. Only a few got away."

Tess frowned and nodded. Although she had not met Zyith for more than a few minutes, and although he had not been particularly pleasant to her, he was still a Antarian, still a member of her planet, and his death was still a blow. She bowed her head at Sria's words.

"The few who escaped said it was as though Khivar knew they were coming, knew how many would be there, knew how they would enter the city, and what sort of resources they would have. He killed them all with frightening efficiency as though he had been waiting for them all along," Sria continued, her voice dry and scratchy like sheets of sandpaper rubbing against each other. She swallowed and pushed back the fear that rose in her chest and walked over to the window and stared out of it, her eyes dry and old. The moon was just rising now, the faint light struggling to reach the planet below. "It was one of the things were wondered about when Tunia was caught," she murmured. "That she could be captured within just a couple days of being sent into the capital… She was better than that. How could Khivar have known?"

Tess realized with dawning dismay what it was Sria was saying, and twisted into a sitting position on her bed. "You think there is a traitor in the Resistance?"

Sria turned, her face grave and serious, and met Tess' questioning gaze. For a moment she was silent, her eyes shuttered, her skin pale, her expression drawn. When she answered, her voice was quiet, almost inaudible, but the meaning of the single word was terrifying all the same.

"Yes."

Next Chapter: That Which Does Not Kill You

Due: Thursday 12/15